Reflection of my Heart
by hannahcelestial
Summary: Kurt's best friend is a boy named Blaine who lives inside of his  mirror. When Blaine finally gets out eight years later, the two have to adjust  to their new real relationship which will hold a purpose neither of them could  see coming.
1. Chapter 1

Kurt Hummel was known to have an unquestionable obsession with his vanity mirror. While many people that knew him thought that he was just obsessed with how he looked, which was true in some respects, this was simply not the case. He wasn't admiring himself, there was just something else in his mirror that he could see that others couldn't.

That something was a boy.

He was Kurt's age, young and handsome with kind brown eyes and a soft smile. His hair was short but messy, as strands of dark curls stoke out around his face. To Kurt he was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

The first time they met was on the worst day of Kurt's life.

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><p><em>It was a late Thursday afternoon in March 2001. Eight year old Kurt was busy marrying his pink and blue Power Rangers while "The Little Mermaid" played in the background for the third time that day. His father Burt was busy at the kitchen table watching him as he fiddled with a car part that had broken the day before. Everything was fine until the phone rang.<em>

"_Hello?" he answered smiling as he heard his son exclaiming "You may now kiss the Ranger!". He always wasn't so happy with how Kurt played with his toys, but his wife convinced him otherwise. "It doesn't matter as long as he's happy." she'd say._

_An unfamiliar woman replied on the other end of the phone. "Hello, am I speaking to Burt Hummel?" _

"_Yes, may I ask who is calling?"_

"_Sir," she continued with the most sincerity in her voice, "My name is Sarah Mills from St. Mary's Hospital. I'm sorry sir but your wife Elizabeth was in a terrible car accident earlier this afternoon and was brought here just an hour ago."_

_Burt froze._

"_Mr. Hummel?" she asked after he didn't reply._

"…_She's not…" He couldn't bring himself to say it._

"_Sir, she's in ICU. She's barely holding on."_

_Burt clenched the kitchen counter with his hand and looked at his son who was confused as he heard the sound of a screwdriver falling to the floor._

"_I…we'll be there." He gathered the hospital info from the nurse and quickly hung up the phone as his eyes filled with tears. _

_Next thing Kurt knew was that he was in a car with his dad on the way to see mother for the last time. When they reached her hospital room, the boy's father broke down as he ran and collapsed over his wife's unconscious body. That was the first time Kurt had ever seen his father cry and he quickly hugged him and began to sob into his shoulder. At 9:34 that evening, Elizabeth Hummel pasted away without the chance to say goodbye to her husband and son._

_When Kurt and his father finally got home that night, Kurt ran to his bathroom to erase the tears that he had shed earlier. A wet towel in his hand, he reached to wipe off his bright red face when he saw someone in the mirror and jumped back with a yelp. Next to him in his reflection was a boy staring at him. Kurt quickly spun around to see the boy, however he wasn't there except when Kurt turned back to the mirror. _

"_How…how did you do that?" Kurt gapped. The boy didn't say anything but gave a slight smile. It wasn't a teasing or mocking smile, but a smile that was trying to tell him that everything would be alright. Though Kurt didn't know the boy, he reached to press his palm against the mirror as the stranger did the same. Suddenly a name wrote itself above their fingers._

_**Blaine.**_

"_I'm Kurt." He sniffled. Their hands remained like that for what felt like hours, perfectly pressed into the looking glass and Kurt never felt more content._

* * *

><p>From that day on, whenever he was going through a hard time or just needed someone to talk to, Blaine would be there for Kurt. Although they could only be together in the form of a reflection, he had never felt closer to anyone in his life. It turned out however, that Blaine never talked. He never told him why he didn't speak to Kurt; he had asked several times and would never received an answer. This didn't stop communication from becoming too difficult though. Blaine's ability to write on mirrors helped out as well as a strange mental connection they both shared. It's wasn't powerful, but when the two placed their hands together they could exchange their emotions through the mirror. Blaine was a fantastic listener and helped him get through a lot; he was there when Kurt came out to his father in high school.<p>

* * *

><p><em>It was the evening after another McKinley High football game. Kurt had decided to briefly join the team as the kicker in attempt to cover up the week or so earlier when his dad discovered him dancing to "Single Ladies". But because of the flamboyancy of the entire thing, he had been contemplating whether to tell his dad or not that he was actually gay. Right now he was moisturizing his face like he did every night. Blaine wasn't there at the moment, the last time he had saw him was the day he made the team. However due to the circumstances he really wanted him there. <em>

"_Blaine?" he called._

_When he blinked the boy was there right next to him as always. A sentence wrote itself upon the glass._

_**Are you going to tell him?**_

_Kurt sighed and looked down. "I don't know, I mean I want to…but I'm so scared." His voice got quieter and Blaine smiled delicately at him. "I'm worried that once he knows he won't look at me the same way again…or worse." He heard a knock on his bedroom door._

"_Kurt, can I come in?" Burt called._

_He sighed and began moisturizing his face again. "Yea, sure." The previous words on the mirror were now gone and replaced by a new one._

_**Courage.**_

_Kurt closed his eyes and took a breath as he heard his dad come down the stairs. "Courage." He whispered to himself. Burt walked up behind his son with a questionable look. _

"_Nighttime skin care is a big part of my post game ritual."_

"_Well I don't know what to say about that, but uh, I was really proud of you tonight." Burt began to smile. "I wish your mom would have been there. I mean, alive." He began walking away._

"_Thanks." Kurt said quietly and got up from his chair. He looked behind his shoulder to Blaine who gave him a small nod. "Dad?"_

_Burt turned around. _

"_I have something I want to say. I'm glad that you're proud of me, but I don't want to lie anymore. Being a part of glee club and football has showed me that I can be anything. I know what I am…is…" Burt nodded for him to go on. _

"…_I'm gay."_

"_I know."_

"_Really?" Kurt sounded surprised._

"_I've known since you were three, all you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels." Kurt slightly smiled. "I guess I'm not totally in love with the idea, but if that's who you are, there's nothing I can do about it and I love you just as much. Okay?" Burt reached in and embraced his son. "Thanks for telling me Kurt."_

_Kurt nodded, his eyes sparked with tears. Burt turned back around. "You're sure right?"_

_Kurt turned back to his mirror. "Yea dad, I'm sure."_

_His dad said something else before he left, but Kurt didn't hear him. He was too busy staring at Blaine in shock. "Did I really just do that?" he whispered. Blaine reached to place his hand up to the glass, signaling his friend to do so also. Kurt reached and pressed his palm to his and felt an emotion from Blaine that he had never quite felt from him before- Pride. _

"_You're proud of me?" Kurt asked him. Blaine nodded, flashing him his signature smile. He smiled back. "Thank you for everything."_

* * *

><p>That was about a year ago.<p>

Now, Kurt was spending his junior just getting by. Sure he was having a great time in Glee club, but there was still the bullying. All this month he had been tormented by Dave Karofsky as well as the other football jocks. So far this week he had received two slushies and six locker shoves and it was really getting him down.

"Hey Kurt, some of the glee kids and I are going to Breadstix tonight. Wanna come?" He was walking with Mercedes to their lockers after an afternoon glee club practice.

"No thanks Mercedes I'm busy tonight." He lied. "My dad and I have plans."

"Oh come on, you and your dad never do stuff together!" she whined seeing through his lie.

"I said no Mercedes." he snapped. "I have to go, I'll see you later." He grabbed his bag and walked off to his car.

Mercedes just looked at him. "Whatever." she mumbled.

When Kurt got home he threw his stuff on his bed and set himself down on his vanity chair.

"Hey." He sighed when he saw Blaine.

**Trouble at school?** He asked.

"You have no idea." He took off the scarf he was wearing and threw it on the ground. "There is this Neanderthal named David Karofsky who has made it his mission to make my life a living hell, and nobody seems to notice."

**I'm sorry.**

"It's not your fault." He mumbled putting his head in his hands. "I try to remain positive, but it's…it's so hard." He began tearing up.

**Kurt, you are the strongest person I know. Prejudice is just ignorance, and you have a chance right now to teach him.**

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

**Confront him! Call him out! **

"I'm not sure I could do that." He mumbled.

Blaine pressed his hand on the mirror.

**Come here.**

Kurt sighed and wiped his eyes before pressing his palm onto the mirror. He was surprised when a powerful feeling jumped through his body. He gasped. The feeling was a mixture of strength, confidence, and amiss it all…love.

"Do you love me Blaine?" Kurt asked him questionably.

Blaine closed his eyes and nodded.

"Really?" he breathed.

**Yes.**

It never actually occurred to Kurt that Blaine was actually gay. It's not like he was real, but Kurt had always felt in the back of his mind that he was. The emotions that he felt from Blaine, the conversation they have had. How could that not be real? Early on when they had met, Kurt would often convince himself that Blaine was just a result of his extraordinary imagination. Even today he wasn't completely sure that Blaine was an actual person, which made it even more confusing when that figure in his mind just told him that he loved him…and he felt the same way.

**You don't have to say it back.** Blaine almost looked shy, down casting his eyes from Kurt's gaze.

Kurt stood up shaking his head. "I-I have to go." he didn't see as the boy in the mirror tried to call his name.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading!<p>

For those of you who recognized this, romh used to be on here but after a bad case of writer's block, I lost my muse. A few months later I decided to begin rewriting it a bit and freshen up the story and deleted the old version to start anew. I quite adore this story and I was just not ready yet to let it go. So for all you romh fans, I hope you enjoy the new version just as much, and for you newbies I hope you just plain enjoy it! The first few chapters will be moving pretty fast plot wise, something I didn't want to do but that's kind of what ended up happening. Things will be eventually be slow down and more details will be added in. Please send reviews on your thoughts and you can also send me questions via my inbox here, or through my tumblr ask which will be answered much more quickly. -Hannah ()


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Kurt came home early with a numbness from head to toe. His eyes stung as he drove from McKinley, his foot pressing on the petal enough to earn annoyed honks from the other drivers on the road. He didn't want to think of what had just happened, it had never even occurred to him that it would. He ran inside to an empty house trying to hold back his tears. Burt and Carole were still at work, Finn was back at school- he had a few hours. Despite the rather abrupt ending to Blaine's and his conversation the night before, he knew he had only one person to go to. Even if that person was only in his head.

He was already there when he had reached his bathroom. The neat cursive of Blaine's words quickly wrote itself upon the glass.

**What happened?**

Kurt began to sob not caring to hold back the tears anymore. "It was Karofsky…he p-pushed me into the lockers again. I was just going to ignore it," he took a breath. "But then I thought of you and what you said about having courage." he took an unsteady breath. "I went after him, cornered him in the guy's locker room. He s-started threatening and yelling at me, I thought he was going to b-beat me up since there would be no one to witness anything, but he didn't." The next part came out in a broken whisper.

"Blaine, he _kissed _me."

Blaine made a silent gasp, his eyes were open wide with a hand over his mouth. He went up to the mirror immediately placing his other on the glass.

"No!" he yelled backing away from the mirror. Blaine's hand flinched away. "I am so tired of you! Every time I'm going through something all I get from you is pity and sympathy! How does that do any good? I spill out everything that I am and tell you all about the pain I suffice and I just get an 'I'm sorry'? You don't even talk and the closest we've ever been near each other is blocked by a sheet of glass! Why can't I have a shoulder to lean on or a boy to hold me? We literally can't be together Blaine! Don't you realize that what we have isn't always enough for me? It doesn't even matter that you told me that you love me, what's the point of that when nothing can literally happen between us!"

Blaine just stared at him with worried eyes and Kurt let out an unamused laugh.

"God I am so stupid. I keep forgetting that you're not even real. You're just this stupid idea stuck in my mind all these years as an outlet for me to feel sorry for myself. I make up these emotions to make myself feel better. Isn't that how imaginary friends work? They're only there when you're upset or need help. That's what you are, Blaine. _Imaginary_.

"That's how pathetic I am because I've had to rely this mirage for almost eight years now. I've never had many friends, and the ones I do have are always being chased away by me. Mercedes is suppose to be my best friend, but look how I've blown her off almost three times just this month when all she wanted to do was hang out. I'm so addicted to this image that I've created that I can't even be around other people, even when most despise me anyway. They hate who I am, how I dress, how I act, but that's me and the person who accepts me the most isn't even real! So fuck you "Blaine", and I hope I never have to see you again."

When he stopped Blaine had tears forming in his eyes. Kurt wiped his own away with the back of his hand. "God, just disappear or _something._" he voice hard as he looked away from the most pained expression plastered on the boy's face. He glanced back up a few seconds later to only see his cold reflection staring back at him. Blaine was gone. Kurt collapsed onto his vanity and began crying again.

* * *

><p>No. <em>No.<em>

Blaine fell to the floor in front of his bedroom mirror. He sat in silence, the same way he always did when he and Kurt were together, the boy that no longer believed that he was real. The boy he loved thought that he was just a figment of his imagination, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Finally a broken sob escaped from his tightly pressed lips and he clutched his stomach as if he were going to be sick. He looked up to his mirror hoping,_praying_that Kurt's image would be there waiting for him. It wasn't.

_"I am so tired of you!"_The words pricked at his eyes. The anger in Kurt's voice, it beat down his heart and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

_"Don't you realize that what we have isn't always enough for me?"_Blaine did because it wasn't enough for him either. All he wanted to do was to hold Kurt, to kiss him and make him happy, but he couldn't do that.

Blaine stared up to the foggy mirror before him that no longer held the clear sharp image of Kurt in his bathroom that was always nearly spotless. That's how it always looked when Kurt wasn't there waiting for him, though the haze was particularly haunting right now. As long as Kurt didn't want him there, Blaine had no way of seeing him, only the dull fog in the glass that didn't even reflect what was in his bedroom. Blaine reached a hand to touch the glass. "Kurt, please." He began to sob, the tears now freely flowing down his face. "Please Kurt I need you." Of course nothing happened though. Kurt was the one who had to need him, it never worked the other way around. Blaine was the guardian, it was his job to watch over from his mirror, to be there when his mirror mate was in need even if he needed him too.

There was a knock at the door.

"Blaine, it's Nick." a voice called. "Are you okay?" Blaine just wailed in response. "I'm coming in, okay?"

Nick opened the door and ran over when he saw his friend curled up on the ground. "Blaine, what the hell happened?"

"_K-Kurt._" his voice croaked.

Nick's eyes widened. "Did something happen to him? Is he okay?"

"N-no. B-but he was screaming at m-me, Nick. He s-said that I w-wasn't real. That I w-was in his head."

His friend got down on his knees and reached out to hug the mess of a boy in front of him. "Oh, Blaine."

"H-he doesn't even l-love me." Blaine sobbed into the other boy's shoulder. "What am I going t-to do?"

Nick pulled away taking out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and handing it to his friend. "Here." Blaine choked out a 'thank you' before blowing his nose. "Look, you and Kurt are meant to be together. Whatever just happened between you two isn't going to stick. Remember the other day when you told me how Kurt told you that you looked handsome in your new sweater and afterwords was blushing terribly?" Blaine nodded. "He_totally_loves you."

"I just told you that he doesn't think I'm real." Blaine scoffed, his voice muffled by the handkerchief. He was beginning to calm down.

"Sometimes telling yourself that something isn't real makes it easier."

Blaine sighed. "Well if that's true how am I going to convince him otherwise? He has to want me to see him and even if he did that doesn't mean…what the hell are you smiling about, Nick?

His friend laughed and pointed to the large mirror before them which had begun to give off a luminous glow. "Look."

Blaine turned his head and gasped. "But that means…"

"You're going home, Blaine."

* * *

><p>Kurt had been crying in his bathroom for almost thirty minutes when Blaine had disappeared. He was scared and alone, Karofsky had forced himself onto him and he was <em>so<em>frightened that it would happen again. He was too scared to tell anyone and too ashamed of himself for letting this happen. He knew he shouldn't have stood up for himself, look where it got him.

There was nobody to talk to, not even the boy in his head and even that had hurt him for how real it all felt. He remembers the time when he was younger and had gone to a shrink for a few times after his mother's death. He had told his father all about Blaine and how he was his best friend. His father thought that this was normal at first, a coping method for him to use in the form of an imaginary friend, even if Kurt was a little old for those. Kurt never stopped talking about Blaine though, even after a year with his mother gone and was still not making too many friends at school. Being a concerned parent of course, Burt went to go seek help. The shrink had tried after a few visits to convince nine year old Kurt that his friend stuck in the mirror wasn't real. Of course he didn't like hearing that however and began to yell at the plump old man that he wasn't lying and quickly kicked him in the shin before stomping out. Needless to say, Kurt never went back there again. The night after the visit Kurt told Blaine all about his visit to the "crazy doctor" which only worried the boy in the mirror.

_"-And then I left! Well actually daddy made me say sorry to the man before we could leave. I didn't mean it when I said it though, he said you just in my head! Blaine?" Kurt cocked his head to the right when he saw the other boy frowning. "Why do you look so sad?"_

**you kno i'm real right?**

Kurt scoffed. "Of course I know you're real, silly!" Blaine's smile returned and the two pressed their palms together. A feeling of warmth and comfort drifted through their bodies…

Kurt shook his head away from the memory. "He's not real." he thought, but the feeling of regret still managed to linger and the feelings of Blaine still scratched at his skin.

Shedding away the last of his tears, Kurt reached to turn his sink faucet on. After splashing the cool water against his skin, he reached over to grab a towel when he saw Blaine once again standing in the mirror.

"What are you still doing here?" he snapped. "I told you to go."

"Kurt."

He froze when he heard the voice that matched the boy's lips in the mirror. "Blaine?" he called back, but then realized that the voice had come from behind him and not from the mirror. Kurt sucked in a breath before standing up and turning around. There, standing on his bathroom tile, was no other than Blaine himself.


End file.
